Our heartbeat
Takes for granted
Each breath
We dare to take
As exhales
Softly wasting
Their miracle
Pushed from lungs

Expelled
With gentle grace
While the moment
Pauses briefly
To assure us
Time is fleeting
When denied
That second wind –

This fate
We often chance
Like tomorrow
Hardly waiting
For these lives
Which soon diminish
Through expending
Too much air

Or exhausting
What remains
Near an end
Not always chosen
But denied
In sudden beauty
By one swift
Yet tragic kick

We proclaim
Has stolen fate
Though it’s God
Who’s merely vanquished
All our foes
Before they surfaced
Without battles
Long and sick

Tasting glory
From that source
Where those gasps
Of sweetest ether
Linger lightly
On our palettes
Tasting heaven
As we pass

Drinking wine
No man can claim
Is replacement
For each instant
Wasted soreley
Seeking pleasure
Left abandoned
By design

Trading wind
And beating pulse
Losing blood
Despite their effort
To sustain
What wishful thinking
Keeps them dreaming
During death.

– J. Pigno